


The Sound of a Bell

by autobotscoutriella



Category: Redwall Series - Brian Jacques
Genre: Character Death, F/M, First Meetings, Pregnancy, Redwall Midwinter Gift Exchange 2021, Slice of Life, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28960617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autobotscoutriella/pseuds/autobotscoutriella
Summary: The bells mark out important moments in the lives of Matthias and Cornflower, across the seasons.
Relationships: Cornflower Fieldmouse/Matthias
Kudos: 6





	The Sound of a Bell

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Melly1](https://melly1.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for the Redwall Midwinter Gift Exchange.
> 
> Section headings are taken from the poem carved on the Joseph Bell in _Mariel of Redwall_ (slightly out of order for better applicability).

**_Listen and my voice you’ll hear, throughout the changing seasons_ **

While Matthias knew he hadn’t been born at the Abbey – he had occasionally been told the story of his arrival at the Abbey as a tiny orphan – he had no memory of a time when he had not been surrounded by dusty red sandstone, jewel-toned orchards and gardens, and woodland-green habits. For as long as he could remember, the gentle tolling of the Joseph Bell had marked out the events of his life, from mornings and mealtimes to seasons-day celebrations and the appointments of new Brothers and Sisters to the order.

That bell had also marked what would, in hindsight, become the most important meeting of his life – though Matthias didn’t know it at the time.

The Joseph Bell chimed out the dinner hour, and Matthias scrambled to cross Great Hall and reach Cavern Hole before someone noticed he was late. His sandals, far too big for tiny paws, flopped about and threatened to trip him, and he kept stumbling on the hem of his habit, even after Sister Rose had specially cut it down. He was so focused on trying not to trip that he didn’t see the other little figure in the middle of Great Hall until it was too late, and the two collided with near-simultaneous startled yelps.

Matthias was up first, scrambling to help the stranger up and apologizing so quickly he stumbled over the words. “Sorry, sorry – so sorry - tripped on my, er, sandals, and I didn’t see…”

He looked up mid-sentence, holding a sandal in one paw and the other young one’s paw in the other, and found himself staring into a pair of warm brown eyes. His voice suddenly stuck in his throat, and though he tried to say _I thought I was the only one late for tea_ , it came out as “thoughtwaslatefor…uh, tea?”

The little mousemaid giggled shyly, and Matthias promptly lost his entire heart.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I was lookin’ at the pictures.” She pointed up at the tapestry, where Martin the Warrior smiled down at them. “I’m Cornflower Fieldmouse. What’s your name?”

Matthias had to clear his throat before he could tell her. “I’m – I’m Matthias. And that’s Martin the Warrior.” It felt important, somehow, to make sure she knew that as well. “He founded our Abbey.”

The Joseph Bell tolled again before either of them could speak, and Cornflower’s eyes widened. “Oh, that’s right, tea! My mum’n’dad’ll be wondering where -”

Matthias tugged at her paw. “C’mon! It’s just down in Cavern Hole.”

The two little ones ran off, paw in paw. Matthias would not remember that he’d forgotten his sandal in Great Hall until almost nightfall, when Brother Dan asked him why he only had one.

**_I will ring for wedding times, when two hearts unite_ **

On a crisp, late-fall dawn, the sun rose slowly over Mossflower Wood, gradually tinting the crisp shadows of night with the soft reds and golds of sunlit autumn leaves. The light had barely begun to touch the walls of Redwall Abbey, but it promised to be a cool, cloudless day.

Cornflower, wife of Matthias the Warrior, stood on the walltop over the Abbey threshold, watching Mossflower and the Abbey slowly come to life. She drew her shawl closer around her shoulders and gazed down at the silent, shadowed gardens, thinking back over that summer. Something about early mornings sent her mind back to times before – the Summer of the Late Rose really hadn’t been _that_ long ago, but somehow it already felt like a lifetime.

Cornflower regretted very little when she looked back at her wedding day. The ceremony had been simple and solemn, a joyous moment that still acknowledged the tragedy that had come immediately before. It had been the most beautiful moment of her life, and two seasons on, she looked back on it with fondness.

But if she could have changed one thing, it would have been the bells.

The Joseph Bell had always rung for weddings, singing out the joy of the ceremony across the woodlands until Mossflower itself echoed with it. Even as a tiny mouselet with no idea what a wedding was or why anyone would want one, Cornflower had loved to listen to the sound of the bell, and when she had finally understood what it meant, she had sometimes daydreamed of the day the bell would ring for her own wedding.

It was no one’s fault that there hadn’t been a bell to ring for her wedding, of course, except maybe Cluny’s. The Methuselah and Matthias bells – and it still made her smile to think of how shy and flustered her husband had been when Abbot Mordalfus announced that one of the bells would be named for him – had not been completed until almost a full season after the war had ended. Redwall’s bellringers would happily have rung the bells for them, given the opportunity.

Now, Cornflower thought with a touch of wonder as she ran a paw gently over her apron, they would have another happy reason to ring the bells.

A shadow fell over the battlement next to Cornflower, and she looked up to see Matthias approaching. “You always come up here when you need to think,” he said, answering her question before she even asked it. He placed a paw around her shoulders as soon as he reached her side. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh, yes.” Cornflower leaned into Matthias’s side, watching the sun’s rays gradually turn the Abbey building from deep red to dusty pink. “Everything is more than all right.” She folded her paw over his and tilted her face up until she could look at him. “When spring arrives, our little family will be three.”

It took him a moment to understand, but when he did, his face lit up even brighter than the rising sun. “You mean we’re – you’re – ”

“Going to have a child,” Cornflower confirmed. Matthias fumbled over his words visibly for a moment before sweeping her up in a hug, struck speechless with happiness.

As the two of them held each other close, the sun rose fully into the sky, and Redwall’s twin bells tolled out a new day. Leaning against Matthias’s chest, Cornflower thought that the bells sounded just that much more joyful this morning, as if the bells themselves knew that there was a reason to celebrate.

**_I will boom a sad farewell, when they must leave this life_ **

The evening bells tolled out slowly, solemnly, over the quiet Abbey grounds. Matthias gazed up at a deep blue-purple sky through eyes that no longer saw as clearly as they once did, watching the sun begin to set over the west wall of the Abbey. Midsummer’s Day was almost over, but there was one more celebration to hold before the day ended.

_Cornflower, I wish you were here to see this_ , Matthias thought. _You would have been so proud._

He had hoped that she would see it. Planning had begun in spring, and even though Cornflower had been quite frail then, she had taken part in the early preparations. But to his sorrow, at the beginning of summer, Cornflower had quietly passed on. It had been peaceful, surrounded by friends and family, and she had gently told him that she was ready, but ever since, Matthias had felt that most of the light had gone out of the world.

The last note of the bells hung on the still air, sweet and melancholy. Even on this joyous occasion, there was a touch of sadness to their sound, as if the bells themselves knew that the celebration was marked by the absence of long-gone loved ones. Constance and Orlando, old Abbot Mordalfus, the Churchmice, Cornflower…Each season, the Abbey felt just a bit older, and the bells a bit more mournful.

Or perhaps, Matthias thought wryly, those were just the thoughts of an old mouse, drifting off into nostalgia as he watched the sun set and thought about his beloved wife.

“Grandfather? Are you all right?”

Matthias looked up to see his grandson, Martin, standing beside him. Martin was still a young mouse, but he had grown up tall and strong, much as his father had. Smiling, Matthias patted the broad paw that rested on his shoulder. “Yes, I’m all right. I was thinking of your grandmother, and how much she would have loved to be here today.”

Martin nodded, a hint of sadness creeping into his expression. “I miss her too.”

“She was proud of you, you know.” Matthias accepted the support of his grandson’s arm as they made their way back toward the Abbey. “Just as proud as I am. And even though she didn’t live to see this day, she knew that it would come, and she was so happy for you.”

Martin held his grandfather’s paw carefully. “Do you think she’s watching us?”

“I’m sure that she is.” Matthias patted Martin’s paw gently. “Her grandson is becoming the Warrior of Redwall today. This is a joyous moment for us all, and I am sure that her spirit is here today to watch over us.”

As Matthias the Warrior and his grandson entered Great Hall together, Matthias thought that he could still hear the echo of the bells, marking out the seasons and celebrations of Redwall Abbey for many seasons past, and for many more to come.


End file.
